By Jorge Casuso

June 22, 2021 -- Santa Monica may be headed into an expensive City Council special election with only 21 candidates having applied for an open seat less than 24 hours before Tuesday's noon deadline.

The dearth of candidates to fill the vacancy left when Councilmember Kevin McKeown abruptly retired earlier this month comes after the two most recent Council appointments drew a record number of applicants.

In January, 2019 a total of 76 candidates submitted applications for an open seat, a record topped in July 2020 by 115 applicants.

Several Council members say they don't expect the sudden surge of experienced candidates that have traditionally filed last-minute applications.

"I'm totally open, but it looks like a special election is the appropriate step to take," said Council member Oscar de la Torre. "It looks like it's the best thing to do."

Mayor Sue Himmelrich -- who has long advocated for letting Santa Monica voters, instead of the Council, choose a new Councilmember -- agrees.

"I believe in elections," Himmelrich said. "I think we should do elections."

But the $528,000 price tag of holding a special election -- which could double depending on the timing of Gov. Newsom's recall election -- is a consideration this tiime around, she said.

"It's hard sticking to your guns when there's a fiscal crisis," Himmelrich said, "so I'm being a little bit flexible."

Of the 21 candidates who had submitted applications by Monday morning, seven have had experience serving in elected or appointed positions in Santa Monica government.

Of those, six have previously applied for vacant seats.

Four of the six Council members who will vote on November 29 have said their would not support candidates backed by developers, which may have narrowed the pool of candidates who have submitted applications.

Under the City Charter, any Council vacancy "shall be filled by appointment by the City Council, with the appointee holding office until the first Tuesday following the next general municipal election."

Should the Council “fail to fill a vacancy by appointment within thirty days after such office shall have been declared vacant,” the Council “shall forthwith cause an election to be held to fill the vacancy.”

The last time the Council failed to fill a vacant seat was in 1998 after Councilmember Asha Greenberg resigned when her family moved out of the City.

The Council then voted to hold the nation's first special weekend election on April 24 and 25, which was won by Richard Bloom, the current California Assemblymember for the District that includes Santa Monica.

If the Council succeeds in making an appointment, it would be the third time it does so in less than two and a half years.